{"id":161807,"date":"2020-06-12T14:45:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T14:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/how-to-prevent-the-covid-19-pandemic-from-becoming-a-hunger-epidemic\/"},"modified":"2023-09-11T23:33:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T23:33:25","slug":"hunger-during-covid19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/stories\/hunger-during-covid19\/","title":{"rendered":"How to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from becoming a hunger epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before COVID-19, 135 million were experiencing hunger so severe that it threatened their lives and livelihoods. Now with COVID-19, that number could double by the end of 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pandemics and hunger crises go hand in hand. COVID-19 is no different. The economic impact of the pandemic translates into poverty as millions of people’s sources of income fall due to job losses. Remittances to low-and middle-income countries are expected to fall by 20% in 2020, more than double international aid to Africa.<\/p>\n

All of this adds up to a situation where an additional 419 million people could be pushed to live under US$1.90 a day. It only takes basic arithmetic to conclude that the price of food will rise substantially for the poorest families.<\/p>\n

Ironically, food is not in short supply globally: in Europe and the US, milk is being dumped and eggs are being smashed as demand from restaurants decreases.<\/p>\n

However, food access poses a problem. Most people access their food from local markets, but farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to grow and sell crops due to social distancing and containment measures. Globally, wrong-headed protectionist measures increase the price of food, compounded by exchange rate volatility for many African countries. As a result, food imports could fall by a quarter in sub-Saharan Africa this year.<\/p>\n

For the most vulnerable, shrinking access to food will have devastating consequences. In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in every 5 people is undernourished. In Ethiopia and Nigeria, nearly 60% of consumption expenditure is spent on food. More than 85% of Senegalese have reported income loss, and over a third are eating less food.<\/p>\n

How to prevent a hunger epidemic<\/h3>\n

If governments and businesses take action now, we can prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from spilling over into a hunger epidemic. Here’s how:<\/p>\n